INTEODTTCTION. 



123 



of palms and by no means on other Birds or Beasts which need 

 to be torn to pieces. It is a nocturnal Bird, dwelling in the 

 deepest recesses of caves, wherein it makes a nest (shaped like a 

 cheese) of the soil of guano found by it within the cave, in which 

 the rejected seeds of palms enter as constituents. The young 

 are very fat, and are sometimes eaten by persons who manage 

 not to be disgusted with the odour which is peculiar to them. 



Passing on now to true Birds of Prey, we may first refer to 

 the Sparrow-hawk (Acdjoiter nisus) as an example. It is still 



Pig. 133. 











»t =^ 





The Oil-bird (Steatornis caripensis). 



more or less common in most of our counties. There are two- 

 and-twenty other members of this genus, which is united with 

 nine other genera to form an Accipitrine group of eighty-two 

 species, amongst which is our Goshawk (Astur palumbarius) 

 and the Marsh Harrier {Circus ceruc/inosus). 



The Kite (Milvus regalis) was, a hundred years ago, a very 

 common English Bird, but now it is only an occasional visitant. 

 Its deeply forked tail and habit, when on the wing, of sailing 

 in circles without apparent effort serve to distinguish it easily. 



The Peregrine Falcon {Falco 'peregrinus) is an example of a 



